After finishing up the TESOL course last sunday we trained it over here to Nanjing to settle into our new homes before starting the new jobs. Originally we planned on taking on overnight sleeper train since my collegues Brit and Weston had never experienced it before and the tickets were way cheaper, but in the end we had to settle on a high speed train due to ticket shortages.
The train ride itself was uneventful, which I might add we are highly grateful for after remembering the horrible train collision that had occured a few weeks before our arrival. I'd been on high speed trains before, and plus when you actually inside and on your way it didn't really seem you were going fast at all! But, at least we got between Beijing and Nanjing in a little over 4 hours. Impressive.
Probably the most interesting thing that happened during the trip took place at beijing station. We were waiting near the departure gate when Brit suddenly did a 180 turn and went white, hissing to me "alan! theres a kid taking a deuce over there" ("'deuce'' is texan for ''dump'')
so i turned around and sure enough barely 1 metre away from us was a 2 year old squating over and letting loose onto the floor. Now normally this wouldn't have shocked me since this is China and frankly people have a closer bond with their bodily excretions, but to see this taking place in 
Beijing, in the new ultra modern BJ railway station, seeing the poop hit the polished and pristine surface of the terminal floor, well that was a bit unnerving. Suffice to say the janitor was there even before we'd realized what was happening with the poop scoop. LOL. my god, i've never seen a janitor move so fast. Poor Brit was cracking up in hysterics for the rest of the morning. We really did want to take a picture, but then at the risk of appearing like a pair of paedophiles we refrained. So ever since then we get a bit nervous whenever we see a kid walking around looking at the floor, wondering is he/she looking for a nice piece of real estate to unleash upon? To them, the world is one big toilet bowl.
Throughout the trip to Nanjing i was reminded of something our TESOL instructor had told us about, something that I hadn't noticed on my previous trip but that was so obvious. NOBODY wears fragrances. That's right, not even deodorant. I suppose I hadn't noticed it on the previous trip since it was winter and downright freezing at the time, and hence not much perspiration and BO going around. But then again, so far this trip I hadn't really noticed BO on buses or metros and it is quite warm. I have my theories. Perhaps it's because chinese people are less hairier than other races, or maybe something, or something lacking in their diet softens the BO odour. I also know this to be true becuase while talking to a waitress the other day she suddenly exclaimed in suprise "oh, you're wearing cologne!"
Our intructor told us that the locals here can always tell when a foreigner has been around simply by the scent of cologne, perfume or deordorant left behind. There you go guys, so if you're ever in china by yourself and want to find another foreigner just follow your nose.
Chinese people are also under the impression that all foreigners must smell really bad since we find it necessary to wear fragrance all the time. So next time you're in china, while you think you're attracting everyone of the opposite sex with your super awesome perfume/cologne, everyone else around you is thinking you must be a real stink bomb at home.
Oddly enough though I saw a lynx ad on china TV the other day, so maybe it's a changing trend.
Beijing, in the new ultra modern BJ railway station, seeing the poop hit the polished and pristine surface of the terminal floor, well that was a bit unnerving. Suffice to say the janitor was there even before we'd realized what was happening with the poop scoop. LOL. my god, i've never seen a janitor move so fast. Poor Brit was cracking up in hysterics for the rest of the morning. We really did want to take a picture, but then at the risk of appearing like a pair of paedophiles we refrained. So ever since then we get a bit nervous whenever we see a kid walking around looking at the floor, wondering is he/she looking for a nice piece of real estate to unleash upon? To them, the world is one big toilet bowl.
Throughout the trip to Nanjing i was reminded of something our TESOL instructor had told us about, something that I hadn't noticed on my previous trip but that was so obvious. NOBODY wears fragrances. That's right, not even deodorant. I suppose I hadn't noticed it on the previous trip since it was winter and downright freezing at the time, and hence not much perspiration and BO going around. But then again, so far this trip I hadn't really noticed BO on buses or metros and it is quite warm. I have my theories. Perhaps it's because chinese people are less hairier than other races, or maybe something, or something lacking in their diet softens the BO odour. I also know this to be true becuase while talking to a waitress the other day she suddenly exclaimed in suprise "oh, you're wearing cologne!"
Our intructor told us that the locals here can always tell when a foreigner has been around simply by the scent of cologne, perfume or deordorant left behind. There you go guys, so if you're ever in china by yourself and want to find another foreigner just follow your nose.
Chinese people are also under the impression that all foreigners must smell really bad since we find it necessary to wear fragrance all the time. So next time you're in china, while you think you're attracting everyone of the opposite sex with your super awesome perfume/cologne, everyone else around you is thinking you must be a real stink bomb at home.
Oddly enough though I saw a lynx ad on china TV the other day, so maybe it's a changing trend.
hehe... is this how you suss out the homosexual to not? and how you are going to attract your girls?
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